How to Grow Cucumbers Using Tires

Cucumber plants are prolific, and amateur gardeners may harvest large crops.

Cucumbers are warm-weather crops that like warm, well-drained soil and full sun. The rubber of a tire in the sun warms up the soil inside and, therefore, creates an especially good environment for cucumber plants. Food should not be grown in unlined tires, so precautions must be taken when using old tires as cucumber pots.

1

Lay pea stones on the ground 1/2 inch deep where you want to place the tire, preferably in full sun. Cucumbers like moist, well-drained soil, and the pea stones will aid drainage. Lay the tire on top of the pea stones.

2

Line the inside of the tire with food-grade plastic wrap. Over time, tires may leech chemicals into the soil that would affect the cucumbers.

3

Mix sterilized soil, vermiculite and an all-purpose garden fertilizer, such as 10-10-10. The numbers on the fertilizer indicate the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. For every 3 cups of soil, add 1 cup of vermiculite and 1 tablespoon of fertilizer. Mix as much as you need to fill the tire.

4

Push five cucumber seeds about 1 inch into the soil. Place one in the middle and the others around a 2-inch radius from the middle seed. Water well. Check the soil for moisture every day, and water again if it feels dry.

5

Thin the plants after they all have true leaves. Keep two or three cucumber plants in the tire. True leaves are the leaves that grow after the seedling opens. They are not the first two leaves that show; true leaves grow after the first two leaves that you see on the seedling.

Things You Will Need

Pea stones

Food-grade plastic wrap

Soil

Vermiculite

Fertilizer

Tip

Choose a bush variety of cucumber as opposed to a vining variety for growing in containers.

Warning

Food-grade plastic is necessary to prevent chemicals from the old tire leeching into the soil.

About the Author

Samantha Hanly is an organic vegetable gardener, greenhouse gardener and home canner. She grows a substantial portion of her family's food every year. After receiving her bachelor's degree, Hanly embarked on a career teaching dramatic arts, arts and crafts, and languages. She became a professional writer in 2000, writing curricula for use in classrooms and libraries.